


The tragedy

by xXFluffyFunXx



Category: Lego Ninjago, Ninjago - Fandom, lego - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Bullying, Depression, Heavy Angst, Low Self Esteem, Nightmare, Nightmares, Other, Sad, Trauma, cake factory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:01:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29059446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXFluffyFunXx/pseuds/xXFluffyFunXx
Summary: Hey guys! I’ve been kinda under the weather lately which is why I haven’t really been working on making my Izzy Spirit series. But I can still write as I lay in bed so I figured I’d write out the prequel of the series. I must warn you though, this is very angsty! It also mentions things like bullying and mental health problems as this character reflects on myself and my past as a way of getting it out of my system. It also contains a bit of violence, rated pg 13.
Relationships: Jay/Nya, Jaya - Relationship, Natureshipping, OC/Canon - Relationship, cole/izzy, this isn’t really a ship fic but there are couples mentioned
Comments: 15
Kudos: 5





	1. Series of nightmares

It was just another silent night, a night that seemed peaceful for just about anybody, that is except for the master of animal spirituality. The now fully grown ninja who has only just blossomed into adulthood shifted and turned around her bed covers. She was sweating almost non stop, all to a point all the sheets around her along with her clothing stuck tightly to her skin. The voices echoed through her head, the voices that sounded far too much like her beloved friends. They scream at her, shouting out their hatred for her, calling her the worst of names and using the most damaging of words against her as she slept. Soft whimpers emitted from the ninja, a vivid flash of Cole’s fist could be seen through her closed eyes and she suddenly felt like she was falling from a very violent impact. Many kicks and punches were directed all across her body as it laid on the floor. The words all become far worse as she slept, her nightmare getting more and more violent as she dreamt of her very friends and even her lover hurting her and destroying her both physically and emotionally. The very last sentence she could hear was Cole shouting at her, calling her by the worst of curses there are.

Suddenly, Izzy had shot awake, her room was dimly lit by a nightlight in her room as she feared the darkness. However it seems that small light wasn’t nearly enough to keep those Grimm thoughts away. She felt cold and sticky from her sweat, her mouth was completely dry as tears began to swell, draining her of any last fluid that may be in her body. She’s been having so so many nightmares recently, night after night after night. They seem to get more and more violent and more and more intense, even more graphic and gruesome. She couldn’t understand why things were like this so suddenly, maybe the stress of being a ninja was getting to her at long last. She tries her hardest but she still can’t be like the others, her anxiety always gets the best of her in any mission and it seems to be getting worse and worse the older she gets.

Maybe something else that could have had an effect on her sleeping habits is her haunted memories. Before she met the ninja she had been horribly bullied and attacked by other people. She never had any human friends as a child before she joined the ninja and left her home in hopes that she may find love and acceptance for who she is. It seems like she had found that at last yet the memory of her past still lingers, the words all those bullies said to her left dozens of scars on her heart that could never be healed.

Unfortunately becoming a being so heroic had many consequences, she had to try and change herself into someone else. Everyone insisted it was merely training and overcoming any weaknesses but at this rate, it seems like being weak is simply all apart of Izzy’s nature. She tries so hard to toughen up, she tries so hard to become the ninja they want her to be, that they need her to be. But the stress is proving to be too much for her to handle. What’s worse is that her history of being a victim favourite by bullies didn’t end as soon as she became a ninja, because of her little outbursts in public and mental breakdowns all while she has become so well known due to her title, it would seem like things only got worse. Though it is no longer face to face bullying, instead she now has to deal with online bullying instead. Any single outburst, any single tear that may escape her blue eyes from the pressure of the crowds with their cameras, any single mumbles, mutters or stutters all lead to horrible rumours about her by so called fans. “She shouldn’t be a ninja.” They would say. “She’s too toxic to be some kind of saviour, all she does is cry like a baby so the other real heroes can baby her and do all the work for her.” “She probably fakes it all for attention.”

Those were the worst things Izzy had ever seen written about herself online. Maybe she really isn’t capable of being a ninja that may be true but she certainly isn’t faking her behaviour. All those sudden squeals caught on camera from getting camped tight in an ocean of people, all the hyperventilating she does when someone drowns her in a pile of tricky questions and tasks, that’s just part of who she is. She can only handle things at her own pace. She simply cannot handle things the way others can, it’s not so much a weakness but rather it is just that her brain functions differently from others. And yet they fail to ever understand that. As things got worse Izzy would try to go online and explain to those fans that she isn’t anything like that, she would let it slip about her tortured past of never having any friends and how she is simply just a young girl who is a little different to them. It seems to have triggered more and more rumours instead though, they all mock her, saying that she is only using excuses. Were they excuses or was it all just simply truth telling so they can understand her a little better? Izzy couldn’t even figure out what the truth is. They say that other people have been through way worse and she is well aware of that and she respects that but does that really mean her problems don’t matter anymore at all? As all the hate went on about her online she couldn’t even tell fact from fiction anymore. Was she just a disgusting crybaby as they would say? IS she a disgusting crybaby? Is she a good person or just an insane and twisted individual who doesn’t deserve to be given a chance?

It doesn’t seem to want to stop, Izzy struggles with the ninja and their fanbase on a daily basis yet it seems to never die down. Perhaps that negative experience may be carrying on into her dreams as well. But what can she do? She is powerless now. Plus it’s not like the ninja could understand what she’s going through, if anything she may only get into trouble for it! She also fears that if they knew...they may take their side as well.

Soon morning came, even though Izzy was able to sleep through most of the night she was still painfully exhausted from the series of nightmares she was having during that time. The poor ninja just wanted to sleep in all day. She had completely ran out of both the energy and the motivation to do anything with her life, so instead she just lays in bed doing nothing whenever she can. A loud knock could be heard from her door, it had her jumping out of her skin as the silence in her room was broken so violently. “Izzy! Get up! We got some training to do!” Lloyd called out through the door.

Izzy seriously didn’t want to but she managed to crawl out of bed. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a breakfast bar to munch on, her skin was as pale as a corpse. All the ninja are more than aware of her state, they all waited outside for her as she slowly got ready. “Do you guys think Izzy is ok? I get that she gets a lil down in the dumps every now and then but this is starting to get ridiculous.” Cole said with a sigh, his brow was furrow with worry. “Nothing I do seems to be cheering her up, now she’s lagging way behind on her training now more than ever.”

The fire ninja groaned a little as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Yeah, she isn’t showing signs of getting out of this funk anytime soon.” Kai said with a huff, he felt a little frustrated that Izzy had to take a sudden turn for the worst for what he thought was for no reason. However none of them knew about the hate that was going on online about her. “You guys don’t think Izzy is faking it to weasel her way out of work do you?”

Nya continued to hit the target dummy, she joined in on the conversation as well. “Don’t be ridiculous, Kai. Izzy is not the type of person who would do that.” Nya said with a light scowl.

Kai looked back at his sister and shrugged. “Jay has done it more than once.”

This quickly caught the attention of the man dressed in blue. “Hey! I NEVER fake depression! I pretend I’m sick when I don’t want to train!” Jay snapped angrily before covering his mouth as he had let too much truth of his slip. “Uh- I mean I never fake anything! Ever! Don’t you remember last month? I did ALL of Lloyd’s chores because HE was feeling sick!”

Kai rolled his eyes at Jay, he remembered that time going far differently to how Jay described it. “You did the dishes one time and then said you got sick too, which went on for three whole weeks. I am the one who did most of his chores.”

The green ninja placed his sword down for a minute as he helped Kai win this little argument. “Yeah, and when I was sick it only lasted for three days with me.” Kai couldn’t help but smirk as the blonde helped him make his case.

Jay gasped loudly, as if he was offended in some way. “Why I-?! You guys KNOW I have an incredibly weak immune system! How could you guys make such cruel assumptions against a problem I CLEARLY have! I mean it isn’t like I WANNA be a weakling who gets sick every ten days! No! I am just cursed to be this way instead!” 

As Jay continues to ramble on, everyone else blocked him out entirely. “See, bro? Now you can see the difference between someone who is faking an issue to get their way and someone who actually does have something going on.” Nya said with a big smile, poor Jay looked absolutely betrayed as his Yang said this.

Cole just grumbled as he clenched his fists, ready to punch one of the dummies. “Of COURSE Izzy isn’t fakin it you numskulls! Look, she’s just a lil different from us right? That’s why we need to give her extra special training so she can stop being that way and grow up like the rest of us!” Cole said angrily.

The nindroid stared at Cole for a moment before replying to his angry comment. “No, I wouldn’t say it like that. From the studies I’ve done and through my psychological update I’ve done for her, she won’t ever stop being who she is and change all her strange little habits in a way she will be considered a normal human being.” Zane said factually. “In fact, the training we are giving her isn’t to change her into one of us, but rather to overcome any obstacles that would prove to be an issue exclusively for people within the spectrum she’s on.”

Cole’s eyes widen a little as he listened. “What? No I didn’t mean it like that I-I...”

“So you’re saying she’s never going to be able to do the things we can do?” Lloyd asked, cutting Cole off abruptly.

Zane shook his head. “No, she can most certainly do anything we can do! She simply just needs-“ suddenly the doors open and Izzy could be seen in her training gear, everyone instantly shut their mouths as she walked onto the training grounds. “Ah, hello, Izzy! We were just talking about you.” Zane said with an innocent smile, all the other ninja instantly panicked.

The young woman stared at Zane, she felt a pit in her stomach as she heard those words. “Y-You were?” She asked nervously. 

Zane nodded and opened his mouth as if to tell her more about it, but before he could, Cole threw a training sword to use to whack the dummies with at Izzy. “Haha! Y-yeah! A-Anyway glad you’re here, lil Bunny! You ready to do some training?!” Cole shouted out with a forced smile.

Izzy was more than a little suspicious towards his behaviour. She caught the wooden object as she stared at what she would have once considered as her honest boyfriend. “I um...y-Yeah. Ready when you are.” She said, doing her best to have a blank expression on her face.

Unfortunately throughout their training session Izzy wasn’t doing too well, she slipped and tripped and fell more times than usual. The only thing that was running through her head was cruel theories about what her friends could’ve been saying about her. Were they complaining about her? Were they trying to figure out a way to kick her off the team? Do they secretly hate her just like what feels like the rest of the world to Izzy? All these thoughts became too much for her to handle. She was on the verge of tears as she began to train with her boyfriend. “Alright, Izzy. I know you like to go all soft on your Coley bear but don’t go holding back this time. I wanna see you in action!” Cole said, doing his best to encourage his timid partner. Coley Bear was just one of the hundreds of extremely cutesy nicknames Izzy had for Cole. The master of earth used to hate it when she would call him those things in front of others but he has grown to both embrace it and enjoy it, even if the others may make fun of them a little for it.

Kai just laughed as he sat down on a bench for a small breather. “Yeah, Izzy. Cole wants you to kick his butt!” Kai said with a sly smirk.

Cole’s face went red as he glares at the fire elemental. “Kai! I swear if you start making any of those weird freakin jokes of yours...” Cole said with a growl, Kai did enjoy making some dirty jokes from time to time to tease the couple, Cole does tend to get flustered very easily over these things too.

As the training between them began, it wasn’t long until Cole swept Izzy off her feet. She fell once again as she was sparing with Cole, although this happens often since Cole was stronger than her it still came as an unpleasant shock to the emotional girl as she skidded onto her hands and knees through the dusty gravel covered ground. “Izzy! Crap, crap! I’m so sorry!” Cole cried out as he helped her up, her knee was cut up a little from the fall, bits of rust and dirt was falling into the cuts. “Oh geez, it’s lookin pretty ugly. C’mon, let’s get you to the bathroom.” Cole said as he attempted to help Izzy up, but he caught a glimpse of her teary eyes.

“N-No! It’s ok, I can go myself.” She whimpered out as she tried to fight back her tears. ‘Don’t cry, they will get angry at you if you do just like everyone else does.’ She thought to herself as she quickly got up and ran indoors.

“Hey! Izzy! Wait!” Cole shouted out as she left, he knew that look in her eyes all too well.


	2. A promise

Cole quickly ran after Izzy, he rushed towards the bathroom door and saw that it was shut tight. He knows he should respect one’s privacy but he knew very well what that look in Izzy’s eyes meant and he was not going to let her suffer in silence. “Izzy? Hey you in there? Open up!” Cole cried out as he knocked on the door.

All he could hear through the door and its walls was a weak voice telling him to leave. “G-Go away...”

Cole sighed as he laid against the door, he didn’t mean to make her fall like that but he never would’ve guessed it would be enough to cause her to burst into tears. She is very sensitive but not usually that sensitive. “Iz, please...look I’m sorry I knocked you down out there. I got a lil too...rough I guess.” Cole said with a sigh, with his super strength and skill in combat he has accidentally injured his training partners many times before, especially Jay. 

However Izzy still wasn’t willing to let the strong man in. Instead she tried to come up with an excuse on why he cannot come in. She didn’t want him to know she was crying yet it was all too obvious due to her tone of voice. “G-go away, I’m on the toilet!” She cried out, her tears were running down her cheeks.

Cole knew Izzy was lying, he can hear her sobs through the door, he can sense her pain all too well. “Ok Izzy, now I know you’re lying. If you wanna know how I can tell it’s cause I know for a fact if you were really on the toilet you’d be screaming at me to go away Jay style. Now open up please? Look I just wanna help.” Cole said softly, he started to feel extremely guilty for causing her to trip like that.

Izzy sighed and wiped all her tears away to make it look like she wasn’t crying at all, she then flushed the toilet to try and convince him that she wasn’t lying. “Alright, you can come in.” She said, doing her best to keep in the rest of her tears.

Cole rolled his eyes a little and sighs, he knew exactly what just happened behind the door, the truth was all revealed in Izzy’s voice. He slowly opened the door, his hazel eyes instantly stare down at the scab on her knee. “Izzy, it’s still got a bunch of dirt and stuff in it! Why didn’t you clean it up?” He asked worryingly as he quickly grabbed a towel and began to wet it.

Izzy tried her best to keep a straight face as she lied. “I really really had to go first.” Izzy said with a breaking voice.

Cole just groaned a little and shrugged his shoulders, he decided to just go with it now instead of fighting. “Alright, but just let me take care of it for ya ok?” Cole said as he got on his knees, wet cloth in hand ready to clean the fresh wound. Izzy whimpers a little as she watched the cold wet towel get closer and closer to the cuts on her knee. As Cole got closer he carefully rubbed his hand down Izzy’s thigh to try and soothe her. “Shh, hey it’s ok. It might sting a tiny bit but it’s just plain water for now so I couldn’t be TOO bad, right?” Cole gently applied the cloth to Izzy’s knee, she yelped a little at first but immediately began to relax a little as the cooling sensation helped. Cole carefully wiped the bits of dirt and gravel that got stuck under her skin, it bled a tiny little bit but it was not anything serious at all, it seems like it should scab over quickly. “You know, as a kid I used to injure myself like this all the time. It heals pretty quick so don’t worry too much about it, Bunny.”

Izzy looked down at Cole as he held the towel on her cuts, it was all cleaned out but a nice cool towel does always help. He carefully applied pressure to it. “Y-Yeah, I used to cut up my knee all the time when I was little too.” Izzy said softly.

The master of earth looked up at the master of animal spirituality, her blue eyes were red and wet from crying. “I’m sorry for scaring you back there. Sometimes my strength gets a little out of hand.” Cole said, his guilt could he seen in his eyes. “It’ll heal up quickly though, don’t worry. Ugh...geez I’m stupid. I’m so sorry, lil Izzy.” Cole carefully removes the towel so he can gently kiss Izzy’s scratched up knee. This caused her to blush a tiny bit as more tears threatened to leak out. She’s been keeping them bottled the best she can but when Cole talks to her that way, it seems to just shatter that stuffed jar of tears entirely. Cole knew this too, he looked up at her as he listened to the sound of her sniffling. “Hey...hey it’s ok. No need to cry over spilled milk. Look I’ll take good care of you till this gets better, I-I’ll go get you some ice cream! You want some ice cream?” Cole asked, he was getting more and more guilty by the second, he was willing to do just about anything to see a smile on her face.

Izzy sniffles and shook her head, she was unable to keep it in anymore. “I-it’s not about that, C-Cole...” she said with a sniffle.

Cole got up from the ground and pulled Izzy in for a warm embrace. “Then what? What’s got you so upset?” He asked as he lightly pressed her head towards his chest, letting her listen to his heartbeat to help her calm down and unwind.

Tears fell down dramatically as she held onto her boyfriend tightly. “W-What were you s-saying about m-me?! W-what were you s-saying that was s-s-so bad about me you had to keep it a s-secret?!” She cried out, her body began to tremble.

The black ninja began to bite his lip a little, he didn’t want to tell her about it in fear that it may upset her. He wasn’t sure what he should say or what he should do. “I-...I-I...”

Izzy began to cry even more as she held onto his shirt, she clenches onto the fabric of it. “Y-Y-You hate me!” She cried out, her tears ran down her face like waterfalls. “Y-You were c-complaining a-about me! O-Or maybe it was you g-guys saying h-how annoying I am, o-or-“

Cole was heartbroken as he listened to her wail. He suddenly began to squeeze her a little, hugging her tightly as he shouted out his response before Izzy could continue. “N-NO!” He shouted loudly and angrily, it was scary to begin with as his loud voice echoed slightly in the bathroom. Izzy was stunned to hear his voice, to feel his large arms wrap around her so tight that she cannot move. She then felt a rough yet gentle hand stroke her hair as Cole spoke once again, no longer shouting. “T-that’s not it at all.”

Izzy sniffles some more as she held still, unable to escape Cole’s loving grasp. “T-then what was it? W-what were y-you saying about me that m-made you cut off Z-Zane like that and f-force us all to drop it? Why didn’t you want me to know unless if it was s-something bad.”

Cole felt a pit in his stomach, the guilt he felt became overwhelming as he finally confessed with a shaky breath. “No it’s...not that...it’s just...we were talking about your training and how you’ve been far behind and what we could do to help you start improving again...I-I just didn’t want to hurt your feelings with that. I didn’t want to make you feel weak.” Cole said softly. “Which you are not! You’re...you’re useful in your own way!” Cole quickly added to try and reassure her. Izzy sniffles a little more as she felt Cole rub her back. “But I’m sorry I didn’t tell you...”

The young woman began to sob once more as Cole loosened his grip enough for her to move around once again. She wrapped her arms around him and cried out all her bottled tears against his chest. The master of earth carefully strokes the hurting girl’s head. He shushed her and hushed her as he held her close to his body, rocking back and forth a bit to try and soothe her. “B-But y-you promise that right? You promise I’m not holding you guys back or anything o-or that I’m just some big mistake to the team? Y-you promise that you guys do need me around and that you want me around? Y-you do promise that you don’t...that you don’t h-hate me right? That you...that you guys love me for me?”

Cole pulls back a little so he can look at her, sad blue eyes met with sincere brown ones. “It’s not just a promise, Izzy. It’s a fact of life, that I, that we will always love you and that we need you more than anything.”

Izzy began to blush a little as Cole held her hands, they were much smaller and fragile compared to his bigger rougher hands. “You...you really truely mean that?”

The master of earth smiles softly as he nodded his head. He carefully cuffed a hand on Izzy’s cheek, gently brushing away any more tears with his thumb. “I mean it more than anything.” He leaned in and gently kissed Izzy on the lips. It was a small and sweet kiss but the passion that was there could be felt.

Suddenly Jay came running in at high speeds. “GUYS!!! GUYS!!! WE GOTTA GO! IT IS AN EMERGENCY!” Jay shouted out, he came to a screeching halt in front of the couple.

“W-What?! What is it?!” Cole asked, panicking a bit as Jay gasped for air.

The ginger told Cole between breaths that someplace very very special to him was under attack. “B...ba...bandits! A bunch of bandits! They...they are robbing the....the cake factory! And...and then they plan to...blow it up! The whole place!” Jay said, wheezing.

Cole gasps loudly as he immediately stormed out the monastery, grabbing his hammer along the way. “WHAT?!!!” He shouted angrily. A big snarl appeared across his face. “COME ON THEN! THIS IS A CODE RED! WE CANNOT AFFORD TO FAIL THIS ONE!” Cole shouted. “LETS GO!”

And with that the cake loving ninja left the two behind, yelling at them to hurry up. Poor Jay was a sweating mess as he ran after Cole as Izzy did her best to catch up.


	3. Taking preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s time to come up with a plan, and a very good one at that as there is a dangerous man wielding a remote control bomb!

The ninja quickly made their way towards the area that was under attack, once they arrived they see that there were many police cars around and yet even they couldn’t get in. They were outnumbered entirely and what’s worse was these criminals were threatening to blow the entire place up if they dare to enter, all while the poor workers were inside begging for mercy. “Looks like they’re not going to be letting us in anytime soon.” Lloyd said as he stood on top of a much higher building, looming down at the drama that was playing out before them.

“Noooo! Ya think?!” Jay said with a scoff as he kept looking back and forth between his leader and the intimidating group of thugs down below. “How are we supposed to get in there? One wrong move and the whole place will explode into a million pieces! If they see us, we’re dead, if they hear us, we’re dead, if they even SENSE us we are all dead!” Jay cried out dramatically, his exaggerated statement had caused poor Izzy to panic because of those grim thoughts. Her heart began to throb, knowing there was a powerful bomb inside that can cause a massive explosion.

Cole too began to panic, but rather than it being the fear of injury and death his concern was more directed towards the delicious food that could possibly be discontinued. “And if that happens that means no more cake!” He said with a shudder, the thought of being parted away from such sweet desserts filled him with grief.

The water elemental glanced over at the earth one, she arched her brow so slightly in a judgmental manner. “Is that the ONLY reason you’re worried about this place blowing up?” Nya asked, unimpressed at how he somehow believed that was more important than the people locked up inside with the explosive weapon.

Cole knew very well everyone was not the least bit impressive with him. He quickly swallowed a lump in his throat as he suddenly realised there are lives at stake as well. “Oh uh- no! Of course not! We gotta help everyone get out safely too.” Cole said sheepishly, each ninja was shaming him in silence.

A sudden groan broke the brief and awkward silence, Kai leaned over the tall tower they stood upon like he was ready for action. “So? Doesn’t that mean there’s no time to waste? We should go in there and help everybody out now!” Kai said sounding agitated. But before he could make his way down, the leader of the team grabbed him by the shoulder and warned him against it.

“Whoa! Kai! We can’t just run in there! They got a bomb with a remote control they can set off whenever they want!” Lloyd snapped, sounding desperate to stop the reckless of the bunch.

Kai just glanced back at Lloyd and rolled his eyes a little. “Exactly why we need to get a move on.” He said.

The ninja dressed in green shook his head, his grip on Kai tightened, making it feel a little bit uncomfortable, it also helped remind Kai how this seemingly innocent young man was also extraordinarily strong, more so than he is he would hate to admit. “Kai, if they see us in there, even if we do fight them... it would be inevitable that the one with the remote will run out the building and set the place off with everyone in it so they can make a clean getaway.”

The fire ninja squirmed a bit and managed to pull away from Lloyd’s death like grip. He lit his hand on fire, as a way to demonstrate his powers. “Not if we burn them to ashes first.” He said.

Kai seemed pretty confident, eager to get into the action. However everyone else seemed to agree with Lloyd. “I believe it may be best we take Lloyd’s suggestion. The chances of all of us dying among many innocents if we dive in is 97%.” Zane added.

Jay’s jaw dropped dramatically after hearing the nindroid say that. “97?! We HAVE to come up with the best plan ever! I can’t afford to explode! I’m too cute to go that way!” Jay cried out, his knees began to tremble a bit at the thought.

Poor Izzy felt sick to her stomach, her face went pale entirely after hearing their death rate. Everyone quickly agreed with Lloyd, forcing Kai to sit down and wait for them to come up with a plan. It wasn’t too long until it was decided that they will each put on a disguise and sneak in. While in there Lloyd, Izzy, Jay and Kai will all be making sure everyone is distracted while Zane, Cole and Nya help make sure the hostages escape unharmed. Lloyd will also try to get his hands on the dangerous remote to help ensure their safety.

“Right, So that’s the plan, Zane how do you think this will play out? Will it work alright?” Lloyd asked as he glanced up at the ice ninja.

The being made of titanium nodded after having a quick scan through of possibilities. “It seems to be our best bet. Out of all other plans we can come up with our chances of victory are vastly higher with this one.”

The blond nodded his head and took in a deep breath. “Alright. So guys, you all ready?” Lloyd asked, he smiled confidently at everyone to help lift their spirits, although this effect worked wonderfully on all others, it didn’t work on Izzy. “Yeah! Ninjaaaaa...goooo!” Each ninja cheered as they attempted to head down, all but one that is.

“W-w-Wait! H-hold on!” Izzy cried out, standing still in her spot. Everyone quickly came to a halt and turned back to look at the master of animal spirituality. The terrified girl was as stiff as a board, both hands were cuffed together nervously as the only other thing she had to say were a bunch of whimpers and whines.

Lloyd carefully walked over to Izzy and gently placed his hand on Izzy’s back to try and help soothe her. “Hey, what’s wrong, Izzy?” He asked in a gentle voice, he made for a very compassionate leader.

After letting out a shaky breath, Izzy spoke up once more, all while looking into Lloyd’s sincere green eyes. “It’s just...a-are you guys s-sure about this? W-will this work? A-are you 100% positive we w-won’t fail?” She asked, shaking so slightly. “B-because i-if we d-do then...then we will all- w-we will a-all-“

Lloyd was about to say something to reassure the timid ninja, only to be interrupted entirely by Cole. “Hey! C’mon and snap outta it, Izzy! We can’t fail this one! We just can’t! Now pull yourself together ok? Cake is at stake here! Cake!” Cole snapped out, his obsession for sweets took over his mind completely. All while Nya rolled her eyes at his behaviour.

“Yep, and not the poor helpless people that’s inside...” She said to herself sarcastically.

Izzy was in a state of shock as her blue eyes locked onto Cole, he sounded so desperate, nervous and worried yet angry altogether. All she could do is nod her head a tiny bit as she sealed her mouth shut. “Good. Now come on, guys! We need to set this plan into motion now!” Cole shouted out as he made his way to the stairs that lead downward.

Everyone aside from Lloyd and Izzy followed him. Lloyd sighed as he turned to look at Izzy with a somewhat apologetic look. “Don’t worry about him, Izzy. I know you’ll do just great! I believe in you. Now uh...we should get going too.” Lloyd said as he headed down the stairs as well.

Izzy stood there for a moment, her heart was pounding inside her chest. “Y-Yeah...! I’ll...I’ll try.” She whispered out before following everyone else.


	4. The squealer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ninja put their plan into motion, things seem to be going well but they do have a very close call...

So far the plan went successfully, each ninja got their hands on the clothing belonging to some of the roaming criminals, all after giving them a good bang to the head to knock them out cold first that it.

“Ugh...I can’t believe I had to strip some weird old guy!” Jay said with a shudder as he got dressed.

Nya looked back at Jay and sighed. “Try not to think about it too much. At least the guy you took down doesn’t go commando.” The water ninja began to shudder a bit too as she stuck her tongue out in disgust.

“Sorry guys I know it’s not exactly straight forward but if you wanna avoid getting blown up I suggest we all pull through it.” Lloyd said as he put on a mask that formally belonged to a villain.

Jay gagged a little as he forced himself to put his one. “I’m wearing the part people breath into on my face after it was on some stranger all day!”

Izzy held onto that mask too, she wasn’t too fond of putting on any stranger’s clothes. “Hey um...you don’t think this guy had some weird disease do you? I-if he did if I put this on my face will I get it too?” Izzy asked, she had always been the paranoid type to ask millions of questions like this a day, hoping someone wiser than her just may have an answer to guide her.

The nindroid quickly and bluntly answered her question with much enthusiasm. “Oh yes, if he was ill you would most certainly catch it if you wear his mask. I believe simply wearing his shirt and pants may do it too. But threat not, he doesn’t appear to be sick.” Zane said with a little smile.

Izzy still seemed a bit squirmish however as she stares at the mask. “Just try putting it on inside out.” Lloyd suggested.

“Ugh...wish I thought of that first!” Jay groaned to himself in absolute disgust. 

Izzy took Lloyd’s advice and carefully flipped the mask inside out, she then put it on herself, the clothes were a bit baggy on her small and scrawny body but it worked well enough. Everyone was ready to head inside and set their plan to action. “Ok, remember to stick to the plan guys, a lot of lives are on the line here.” Lloyd said with a whisper before glaring at Kai. “That means you too, Kai.” The fire ninja looked a tiny bit offended by Lloyd’s warning, feeling he was being doubted.

“Yeah, also the delicious goodness that is cake is on the line too, don’t forget that.” Cole mentioned, he stared down at each and every ninja, in a manner that clearly said he would never forgive any of them if this place were to blow up. “We all have to win this fight no matter the cost.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, though their reasonings were a little different, it all came down to the same thing...making sure the factory doesn’t explode.

They all headed inside, their disguise worked wonderfully. No one even looked their way twice, no one was suspicious in the slightest. “Well these outfits work like a dream.” Kai whispered to the team.

Poor Izzy nodded her head, she was still a bit jittery as she walked inside the factory, all while her lover was marching on ahead as if he feared nothing. The green ninja whispered to his friends and fellow teammates. “Alright, So Zane’s got a map drawn down for us, Izzy, Cole, Jay, you three go to the surveillance room. Head inside and make sure no one else hears you once you knock out the guard and tie him up. After that turn off all the cameras so no one can see any footage, be sure to hide the unconscious body too.” Lloyd then looked over to Kai, Zane and Nya. “Kai, Zane, Nya, you three will go and crack the code to unlocking the safe all the people are stashed in. While Zane and Nya focus on breaking in, Kai. Make sure no one else comes along and sees. Wait until Cole, Izzy and Jay give you guys the signal that all the security cameras have been shut down and then start helping the hostages get out.” Lloyd then went onto act 3, he carefully stared down at everyone, making sure they all listened to every word he was saying. “Jay, Cole, Izzy, after you give the signal, make sure that no one around is paying attention while the others bust out the hostages, keep the nearby enemies distracted while they escape. I’ll go and make sure the guy with the remote goes inside into a more private part of the factory and then work on taking it from him. As long as he’s locked inside he wouldn’t want to press the button without trying anything else first.” Lloyd said in a stern voice, making sure everyone understood him well. “So are we all good to go?” He asked.

Everyone nodded their heads, however Izzy’s nod was a little bit delayed as she held completely still, up until she saw everyone else was nodding. It was time to set their plan into action at last, Cole marched on ahead, Jay doing his very best to keep up with him. “Whoa whoa, wait up! Geez, you’re so so fast I can hardly keep up.” Jay complained, the earth ninja was very eager to complete the mission successfully. He was filled with more determination for victory than he ever has been before.

Izzy tried to keep up as well, having being one of the shortest team members it was quite hard to keep up sometimes. Especially since her legs were still a little bit wobbly knowing their lives along with many others are in danger.

Once the three arrived at the security room, Cole let himself inside without a moment to think. The guard that sat there observing the cameras glanced back at them. He seemed a bit puzzled as he turned around in his desk chair to get a better look at who he believed was his gang members. “Huh? What brings ya here? Did the boss send you over here for somethin?” He asked, completely unaware of what was to come.

Cole cracked his knuckles a bit, smirking a bit underneath the mask he wore. He was ready to get revenge, ready to defend the thing he loved most in life. “Yeah you could say that, but to break it to ya, we have both have different leaders to follow.” Cole said before banging his fist against the back of the security guard’s head, he flopped onto the floor. He was out like a light.

Jay stared at the still body that laid uncomfortably on the cold hard ground, his mouth was wide open with shock. “Oh my gosh! Is he dead?! He’s dead isn’t he! I didn’t sign up for murder! What’re we gonna do? Are we going to go to jail for this? I can’t go to jail! I mean look at me, can’t you imagine what everyone would-“

Cole quickly cut off his loud mouthed friend, glaring daggers at him as if to silence him. “Hey, can it! He’s not dead, he’s just knocked out. I didn’t hit him THAT hard. Look you could go ahead and feel a pulse if you’re really that worried about it.”

Jay shudders a bit as he stares down at the seemingly lifeless body. “But feeling for a pulse- pulses feel so weird! It’s cringy!” Jay blurted out.

“Whatever, lets just tie the guy up and hide him so if he wakes up sooner than expected, he won’t go telling anyone.” The earth elemental looked back at his incredibly tiny girlfriend. “Izzy, c’mere with those ropes and tape.”

Izzy nodded her head briefly before going to the unconscious body guard, she still felt as horrified as ever, her vision was a blur as the panic attacks within her get worse. It was a life or death situation, most people would be feeling this way, but for Izzy it’s gone to the point she can barely focus, function correctly. Maybe it could be because she hasn’t been sleeping well? Or it could even be her lack of energy for not eating and drinking enough as of late. Atop of it all, she was stressed all the time, even before entering the factory she was having these types of attacks again and again, she was a mess. But as well as that, Izzy was the kind to get stressed out and worried far more easily than most people. In a way, it’s like she just shuts down sometimes. Her wide blue eyes darted around every corner as her shaky hands reached down to the passed out guard.

However, just as she squat down in front of him, she felt the chair by the camera footage poke into her after moving in a certain direction. As she was completely caught off guard as well as terrified out of her mind to begin with, Izzy let out a loud startled squeal from the sudden contact. It was so loud and high pitched, it had echoed throughout the entire room. It was certainly loud enough to be able to hear down the hallway that was connected to their little hide out.

Cole and Jay instantly began to panic as they knew someone would have definitely heard them. Footsteps could already be heard coming their way. “We’re doomed, we’re doomed, we’re doomed.” Jay chanted. Izzy simply sat there in shock, she stares at the chair that had bumped into her and startled her so. The only one who was able to take action was Cole. He quickly made sure the body was behind the chair and he stood next to it to cover it up, he ending up pushing Izzy out of the way in this attempt however. The sudden shove was so hard that it had caused her to fall, thankfully it didn’t hurt too much as she was already squatting down. She made a little startled squeaking noise as she fell down that tiny distance.

The door opened up and another one of those masked thugs looked inside. “Oy, everythin alright in ‘ere? Thought I ‘eard someone squealin’.” He said through his mask, casually looking at everyone who stood inside the room, the unconscious body hidden behind them.

“Ah, it’s nothing really! It’s just...” Cole glanced down towards Izzy, he glared at her a little bit as her large blue eyes stared up at him. “This little runt here took a tumble and freaked out and ended up screaming like a banshee.” Cole said with a grumble, he was furious with his fellow teammate for attracting attention. A scream like that was a major overreaction by far, one that almost got them caught. But was it really something this little ninja could control? It simply came out of her, not even she expected to make such a noise. Yelping in such a way wasn’t an uncommon thing for Izzy to do, when startled, even just the tiniest bit, she squeals. If something pokes into her unexpectedly, that gets the major reaction from her, if something comes out of nowhere or unexpectedly darts past her, that causes her to screech. People would often look at her and judge her for these little outbursts, they happen in public constantly due to people who push. All those looks she got hurt, but hearing Cole say that really cuts deep. The anger in his eyes, the disappointment in his voice. It hurt.

The thug bursts out laughing and points a finger towards Izzy who still sat on the floor. “HAHAHA! Whadda whimp, ey?! I thought you ‘ere supposed ta be big an’ strong like da rest of us! You should really up yer game, runt! Otherwise we all are gonna end up eatin’ you alive!” The punk laughs some more as he left the room, wheezing as he went down the hallway and then vanished.

Jay quickly closed the door behind him and signed in relief. “That was so close! I thought we were dead for sure!”

Izzy sat down on the floor still, she was doing her best to fight back the tears that threaten to shed. Cole glared down at her, she didn’t even want to look at him and instead kept her head down. “Izzy, are you nuts? We almost got caught! You have any idea what would happen if we lose?!” He snapped angrily. Izzy clenched onto her pants, still not looking up at the angry ninja. “First of all, that would’ve gotten us all killed and secondly, this wonderful little haven of mine would be completely destroyed! Look, Iz, You’re gonna have to learn to snap out of it. We can’t afford to lose you got that? Don’t think that I would ever be able to forgive you if you go screwing up. This place is a blessing, we CAN’T lose it!” Cole said sternly before picking up the unconscious body and tying him up. Poor Izzy was on the verge of tears at this point. “Now let’s just do what we have to do and then go tell the others the coast is clear alright?” Cole grumbled, huffing out of pure annoyance as Jay awkwardly stood there watching.

“Ok, little harsh there, Cole. Ok. A LOT harsh. But seriously, Izzy, please don’t screw up like that again, I really don’t wanna die here!” Jay cried out.

Izzy couldn’t help but feel absolutely awful, she was unable to say anything else. Instead Cole was the one to respond to Jay. “If you don’t want this place to blow up come over here and help me tie and gag this guy up, motormouth.”


	5. Lloyd the liar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lloyd goes off to try and steal the deadly weapon to help ensure everyone’s safety. His disguise works well enough but his voice acting is not the best.

As the chaos continued, the remote barer kept pacing around the entrance of the factory, threatening to blow the place up if anyone were to try and take him down. Soon enough, Lloyd went after him in his disguise, acting as if he was on the enemy’s side. “Hey, sir.” Lloyd started off as he went over to the man who kept the one thing that could kill them all.

After screaming his lungs out and waving his remote around in front of the baffled and stunned looking police, the dangerous crook turned to look at Lloyd with an angry glare. “Wot ya want? Ain’t ya supposed to be stealin’ all de goods in that factory like da rest of da team?” He asked with a light growl.

Without much hesitation, being as brave as ever, Lloyd replied to the thug with a sneaky lie. “Bout dat...me and da boys found somethin real strange in dis one ol’ room. We really think ya otta see dis.” Lloyd said, putting on a low and rather rough voice. It wasn’t too convincing at all but luckily enough the villain was able to buy it.

“Geez, ya sound like you got some kinda cold dere. Agh...fine, show me dis thing, it better be real good or else yer in for a real butt kickin’.” He said with a huff as he followed Lloyd, remote still in his hand.

“Trust me, dis is somethin’ that’ll blow yer head off.” Lloyd said, using his terrible and poorly executed put on voice.

It wasn’t long until the green ninja and his enemy were locked up in a private room, one that was all solid and thick steel. The walls were so dense it would be almost impossible to hear any noise behind them. “Alright, so wot is dis thing ya wanted to show me?” The dangerous thug asked with a grumble, clearly getting very impatient.

Lloyd looked at the remote that was in his pocket, careful yet swift, he was able to snatch the remote out with ease. All without being caught too as this ratty looking man scanned the room. “Ah, sorry boss, the rest of da gang must’ve already taken dat big old sparkly jewel outta here.” Lloyd said, carefully hiding the remote for the bomb.

The previous holder of the device angrily snapped at Lloyd. “DEN WHY DA ‘ECK DID YA DRAG ME ‘ERE?! IF IT SPARKLES DEN DAT MEANS WE TAKE IT! NO QUESTIONS ASKED!” He roared, it would be intimidating to just about anyone but Lloyd remained very calm the whole time.

“Oh but dis ain’t no normal jewel, we reckon it might be da ol realm crystal! Or maybe a long lost relative of it.” Lloyd said, another perfect lie.

The angry expression on the old brute’s face broke instantly. “Holy- If yer right just think bout all da goods it can get us! Where is it?!” He asked eagerly, demanding an answer right away.

Lloyd simply shrugged his shoulder a bit, it was a little bit hard to keep a straight face. “Dunno, the boys musta taken it out back already with dem other goodies of ours.”

The thug nodded his head, a greedy smirk plastered across his face. “Right den, we’ll head on back and-“ suddenly, he was cut off as he felt his pocket. He noticed that something very important was missing.

Lloyd felt a little bit worried as he watched the man angrily rummage through his pockets. He suspected that it won’t be long until he figures out what had happened. “Uh- Yeah boss! I’ll go ahead and get back to work.” Lloyd said with a forced smile, his fake and brutish accent was forgotten and gone entirely. 

Just as the dirty looking thug glanced up at Lloyd, growing suspicious with his sudden change of voice, he spotted a little remote poking out of Lloyd’s pocket so slightly. “The ‘eck...? You...you bastard!” He yelled angrily. “Give it back!”

But instead of giving back the stolen item, Lloyd quickly slammed the door shut right in his face, he quickly took off as fast as he could. ‘Oh geez...that’s not good! Ugh...I hope the others are nearby!’ He thought to himself. His heart was pounding inside his chest.


	6. Doubt

After shutting down the cameras and hiding the unconscious and bound guard, Cole, Jay and Izzy started to head towards the rest of the gang. Cole was charging off ahead as Jay tried his hardest to keep up but Izzy was dragging behind, still a little hurt from before. She sniffles a little bit.

Cole was running across the factory almost at the speed of light, leaving behind his two teammates in the dust. “Oh come on! Every other time in every mission you’ve been super slow and now you’re faster than Turner!” Jay said with an angry huff, wheezing a bit as he tried to keep up.

Izzy was way way behind, lingering in the darkness that was her friend’s shadows. She couldn’t stop thinking about what Cole had said, she then compared his words to what he had said before any of this began. “You’re strong in your own way.”

Thinking back on it now, the tone in his voice sounded unsure, like he didn’t really believe what he was saying was true. Was he just lying about that? It certainly would make sense considering what he had said just a couple of minutes ago. Sometimes in the heat of things people either say something they don’t mean, or they let the truth slip out entirely. Either way though, it still really hurt.

Suddenly, Izzy could hear some footsteps travelling towards her at an intensely fast pace. The poor frightened girl squealed a little again as she suddenly felt hands grab onto her. She was frozen for a second out of pure fear but in the blink of an eye, she suddenly kicked the person who tackled her in an extremely vulnerable spot. “GEEEEEECK!” Poor Lloyd fell to his knees in sudden pain, one hand holding onto a remote device and the other between his legs. “I-IzzzzZZZZZY!”

Izzy gasps a little. “Lloyd! Holy brick! D-Don’t ever scare me like that!” She cried out, sounding a tiny bit angry. The injured blond just sat in the spot, groaning in pain as he looked at his friend with such betrayal. This is when Izzy realised she really hurt him. “Oh brick, are you ok? I-it’s not too serious is it?!” She asked, whimpering so slightly as Lloyd gripped onto the remote tightly. “I-I’m s-so so sorry!”

Lloyd didn’t say much else, he couldn’t say much in the state he was in. He carefully gave the remote to Izzy. “Izzy...take good care of it...!” He said in a squeaking voice, it was the kind of sound one would hear from a dying mouse.

Izzy was completely baffled as she held onto it. “W-w-Wha-?!” 

A loud shout could be heard from across the factory. Poor Lloyd forced himself onto his feet, still trembling a little because of Izzy’s powerful and deadly kick. “I don’t have much time, he’s found me...! I-I gotta go! Just- just keep that remote safe no matter what and whatever you do, d-don’t push that button!” Lloyd cried out with a painful squeak, he managed to run off, wobbling a little side to side.

Izzy couldn’t even say anything in response, the green ninja was just gone. She looked ahead and saw a very very scary looking man run past her, trying to hunt down Lloyd. She made sure to quickly hide the remote, and thankfully since her disguise was too big on her, she can easily hide it in her sleeve.

Soon enough a bunch of guards have left their positions to look for Lloyd as their leader commanded it, leaving the area with all the hostages unsupervised. It would certainly make things easier to help out the poor prisoners but at the same time, Izzy couldn’t help but worry about Lloyd. She then came to realise how far behind she was and ran towards her destination, meeting up with an angry Cole and a really tired looking Jay. “What took ya so long?” Cole asked with a grunt.

Poor Izzy began to stutter over her words a bit as she explained, however she decided to keep the remote part a secret just in case there could possibly be a guard hiding somewhere. “I um- I just bumped into Lloyd and he’s uh- he’s taken off somewhere with a butt ton of guards after him.” Izzy said in a nervous sort of tone, making sure the remote was safe and secure up her sleeve.

“Brick, we better move quickly then. Come on, Zane! C’mon sis! Break the code already!” Kai shouted out, he was eager to get moving, especially knowing Lloyd is in danger now. The sooner this is all done then the better the results will be and the less likely it is for Lloyd to get hurt or captured.

Nya looked back at her brother and opened the cell with ease, revealing a bunch of terrified looking citizens inside. “Chill, bro. I already got this thing opened ages ago. We just needed to wait for the others to catch up to keep all the other thugs busy while we sneak out the hostages.” Everyone looked around for a moment, it seemed like the coast was clear. “But it kinda looks like all those thugs who were supposed to be on watch duty all went to try and find Lloyd anyway.” Nya added.

“Well that just makes everything all the more easier right? We just gotta run right out that exit! Alright then, easy! Let’s move everyone! Come on now, easy does it guys.” Cole said as he helped some people get out of the cell, generally all the elders who got locked up with the rest of the hostages. He was eager to finish this mission, but at the same time he remained oddly humble towards the no longer imprisoned people. After watching Cole seem so gentle with them, telling them to take their time Izzy began to feel a little low on herself, more so than usual that is. When she was nervous she only got yelled at but these strangers are treated with care and kindness by Cole. It wasn’t fair at all, she may be a ninja but she is still a human right? She still feels doesn’t she? Or...could it simply all be because her nightmares of the ninja hating her won’t just dreams made up of pure anxiety and trauma, but are also a vision into the truth and future?

Everyone quickly and carefully got everyone out of the factory safe and sound. The police quickly took over and lead the poor citizens to safety. “Thank you, ninja. But what about the bomb? Also where is the green ninja?” One officer asked.

Izzy held out the remote, nervously talking to the officer who also did in fact wield a tranquilliser, which was very intimidating. “I um, I got the remote for the bomb right here! Lloyd gave it to me after taking off and getting all the other creepers to follow him. I’m...I’m really really worried about him though...it helped make busting out the hostages easy but...y-you do think he will be ok, right guys?” Izzy asked, she looked back at the rest of the ninja.

Jay just stood there with his jaw hanging open wide. “YOU HAD THE REMOTE TO THAT DEATH BOMB THIS WHOLE TIME?!” He shouted out of pure shock. “LLOYD ENTRUSTED THE THING THAT COULD KILL US ALL TO THE CLUMSIEST PERSON IN THE WORLD?!” After taking in what he just both said and realised, Jay began to feel weak in the knees. Izzy was hands down the clumsiest ninja in the history of Ninjago, hence why she may have messed up a few missions from time to time. Jay suddenly leaned over, coughing a bit and groaning. “I think I’m gonna barf...”

Even Zane looked a little bit uncomfortable to see Izzy holding onto it. “Oh....my.”

Nya seemed stunned as well. “Whoa...I’m amazed you were able to take such good care of it! Heheh...” the water ninja chuckled a bit nervously, patting Jay’s back as he continued to heave like he wanted to throw up due to fear and shock. She looked at Izzy with a forced smile.

Izzy felt a little bit uncomfortable and quickly hid the remote again. It really seems like no one had any faith in her whatsoever. It was true that she didn’t want to have to be the one to hold onto such a thing but having the others doubt her still did stung her deeply. However Kai was very quick to interrupt everyone. “Who gives a brick about that?! Lloyd is in there and we gotta go get him out now!” He then began to march towards the factory. “As long as I have breath in my lungs, I won’t let ANYTHING happen to him!” The fire ninja shouted out angrily. All of the police officers followed him, knowing it was safer to enter.

All of the ninja were going inside as well, Izzy was about to enter but before she could, she was stopped by a policeman. “Miss Izzy, was it? I suggest you stay put and keep that remote safe, do what you can to keep all the citizens safe too.” 

Izzy looked up at the policeman and nodded her head so slightly. She understood perfectly and waited outside with the rescued citizens. “G-got it!” She said as she did a little bit of a salute, forcing a more confident smile on her face. “But please be careful in there alright?!” Izzy quickly added. She then looked up at her boyfriend. He was about to head in but before she could, Izzy grabbed onto his hand. “Cole Wait!”

The black ninja turned around and looked down at her. “Iz? What’s up? I gotta get going!” He said abruptly, panicking so slightly as his brown eyes darted back at the factory and then back to his girlfriend.

“I-I know...but I just wanted to tell you to be careful in there...o-ok? Promise me you will be careful.”

Cole may have been a little bit frustrated with her before, but he couldn’t help but smile a little bit. He ruffled Izzy’s hair playfully. “Hey, relax. I’ll be just fine ok.” Cole said before taking off. He waved back at her as he entered the factory.

Poor Izzy just stood there with her heart throbbing.


	7. How it was always meant to be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning! This chapter is super duper angsty

Poor Lloyd sat there, locked up in a cage yet again. It wasn’t too hard for him to be captured because of the state of absolute pain Izzy had put him in. “Alright pretty boy! Tell us where ya ‘id dat remote n maybe we won’t give ya a nasty ol pair of black eyes!” The leader of the thugs said in a brutal and harsh tone of voice, he was cracking his knuckles, eager to punch him. “Den again, maybe some big ol swollen eye sockets would make ya look better! It might ‘ide dem weird lil glow in da dark green eyes! Ey pretty boy?!” All the rest of the thugs laughed loudly.

Lloyd just sighed as he sat in the cage. “If you really think I’m going to tell you, just so you can run out and blow the place up while I’m still trapped here, you got another thing coming.” Lloyd said, not at all intimated by the criminals around him.

One of the brutal thugs gasped as the sentence left Lloyd’s mouth. “He knows bout our plan of leavin ‘im behind to blow, boss!” 

The gang leader of the thugs glared at the other coldly. “Well he does now dat you’ve gon ‘n saidit!” He shouted, angrily looming over the now terrified looking grunt. However his attention quickly looked back at Lloyd. “We’ve looka bout every corna of dis Whimp! Every sleeve ‘n every pocket!” The alpha said with a furious growl, glaring at Lloyd with a look of absolute hatred. Although Lloyd didn’t seem the least bit intimidated, instead he just sat there and sighed irritably. But what the thug said next is what finally got the green ninja to start to feel a little bit nervous. “Oy! Wait! Dere is still one last lil pocket we ‘aven’t checked!” The gang leader’s eyes widen with the sudden aura of realisation. He then looked back at another one of his members and quickly made demands. “Oy, ya lazy runt! Go and get me some of dem plastic gloves! Maybe a bucket o wata too! I reckon I igured out where dat stupid lil ninja ‘id dat remote!” He shouted out loudly, having the other criminal run off to gather the requested, or rather demanded items.

Poor Lloyd’s green eyes widen as he knew exactly where this thug was going to check next. He started to sweat nervously, wishing so desperately he didn’t have to be in this mess a moment longer. All his irritation turned to feelings of unpleasant anxiety. When suddenly...

“YOU SNOTTY NOSED JERKS GET THE HECK AWAY FROM HIM!!!” Shouted out a very loud and angry voice.

All of the criminals turned around to see a very very angry red ninja charge towards them, behind him were a bunch of cops as well as the rest of the ninja. “Aw crud...”

Sometime later...

Izzy waited impatiently outside the factory, she was pacing back and fourth with worry. “Don’t worry, dear. They will all be alright.” Said a kind hearted elder, she gave Izzy a sweet smile, wanting to do what she can to help lift her spirits.

Poor Izzy looked at the old lady with a nervous expression on her face. “Y-you think so? They have been in there for a while now...” Izzy began to breathe a little heavy as she carefully held onto the remote.

And as if Izzy had summoned them, the ninja and the police exit the factory, with a bunch of sleazy and dirty looking criminals in cuffs. “You have no idea how grateful I am that you showed up when you did.” Lloyd said to Kai with an awkward chuckle.

The fire ninja looked back at the green one, scanning him up and down for any signs of any injuries. “You sure you’re alright? What did they plan on doing with you?!” Kai asked intensely, worried about Lloyd’s well being.

The blond began to sweat some more, a feeling of discomfort was welling up inside him. “It’s...it’s something I would rather not talk about.” He said with a shudder.

Izzy immediately greeted her friends with tears lingering in her blue eyes. “Guys! Guys!” She shouted out as she examined each of them. “Are you all ok?! None of you are hurt or anything right?!” She asked, whimpering a tiny bit as she looked at all of her friends. It felt like she was separated from them for hours.

The nindroid was the first to ensure her that everything was perfectly fine. “Do not worry, Izzy. We are all perfectly fine. No harm has been done.” Zane said with a smile.

Izzy took in a deep breath, holding her hand over her heart that was finally starting to settle down. “Oh thank bricking goodness!” 

The earth ninja looked down at his short partner, smiling like an absolute madman knowing the thing he treasures most is safe. “Best of all, the cake factory is perfectly fine!” Cole said with a big grin on his face, he went over to the huge building next and began to hug its walls. “Oh my baby...I was so scared I was never gonna taste your sweet sweet cakes again!” All of the ninja apart from Izzy just rolled their eyes a little.

Shortly after, a camera crew came flooding in towards the ninja as the police called in for reinforcements to help carry the large gang of thugs to prison. There was quite a few of them after all and it seemed like one or two rides was not enough. There were microphones around each and every corner, crowding in on the ninja as they ask them way too many questions at once. Poor Izzy was freaking out once again.

She can’t handle this sort of thing at all, having so many strangers so uncomfortably close to her, asking so many questions at once that she barely has time to register what they’re saying, let alone answer any of them. All the loud noise of the people around her, the bright flashing of the cameras that hurt her little blue eyes. Izzy began to hyperventilate almost immediately as the crowd came in. All this stress was enough to make her sick to her stomach, uncomfortably so. Everyone else just seemed to take it though. Calmly replying to the crowd and answering their questions. Kai of course was smiling a charming smile, doing his best to make sure he looks good for the cameras.

Poor Izzy was getting more and more overwhelmed. She was clinging onto Cole as if her life depended on it. “Whoa, Uh...Easy there, Iz.” Cole said as he petted her head, hardly having any time to talk to her or comfort her. “But yeah, I’m just so glad this big ol factory didn’t have to blow up! Cause man if it did...I don’t know what I’d do, y’know? Just glad everyone is safe along with all the delicious goods that are in there.” Cole said into the microphone with a large grin, he seemed more eager to talk about this particular case than any previous ones. He was usually the one who would always comfort her in these situations too, telling people to back off a little as he held her close, calmly answering the questions for her and simply telling everyone that she is just a little camera shy. But it seems he was a little too distracted to try and soothe the horrified young woman.

Izzy whimpered a little as she hid behind Cole who didn’t seem to notice her at the time being, she couldn’t stand what was happening at all. But as she hid, she spotted a clearing where the police were. She carefully yet quickly made her way towards the police who were still apprehending the crooks. She just stood there, sighing as she held onto the remote still. At least she was safe here right? She just needed to calm down, her head was spinning all over the place at this point.

“Alright, get in the car.” One cop said to the guy who happened to be the leader of the gang.

All he did was grumble as he was about to step in. “Can’t believe I’m going to jail.” He muttered before glancing over at Izzy, seeing that she was holding onto the remote. An evil smirk appeared across his face as he suddenly made a break for it, heading straight towards Izzy. “I AIN’T GOIN DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT!” He shouted out.

Poor Izzy stood there, stiff as a board as she clenched the remote. Her heart was still pounding a little bit, sweat running down her body as the feeling of nausea got way worse. Her breathing was rapid, unable to handle all the noise everywhere. She was on the edge of having a mental breakdown. When suddenly, she looked up to see the crook running straight towards her, the police not too far behind who angrily chased after him. She heard him shout loudly as he came charging towards her. Although he was cuffed, he looked incredibly intimidating. And because of the state she was in, it made him all the scarier to Izzy. She just stood there in shock, unable to do anything other than flinch and drop the remote, holding her hands to her head as she cowered in fear, tears finally falling down as she squealed.

After dropping the remote out of a state of fear and shock, the criminal had easy access to it and quickly used his foot to press the button. She would’ve stopped him but at the same time, she couldn’t. Just then, a loud explosion could be heard, the entire factory began to collapse in on itself. Everyone instantly ran away from the cake factory as it fell into ruins, blowing up some more and causing more explosions and fires as the chemicals within it were set loose. This allowed the crook plenty of time to get away, though he was still cuffed, he can still run and he ran far far away from the scene of the crime, this allowed many of the other thugs to escape too as all of the police were heavily distracted by the massive explosion.

The frightened ninja dressed in pink was barely able to escape, she was so petrified to begin with that she was so far behind. But once she regained enough consciousness, she took off as fast as she could to outrun the destruction behind her. The fire was spreading pretty quickly. She found a place to hide and just cuddled into a ball, sobbing as she held her hands on her head.

After the massive destruction, everyone quickly came out to put out the flame, Izzy was still hiding, horrified about what has happened. She felt like she wanted to throw up all over herself. Her body was shaking nonstop as she kept hiding. For the longest time all she can hear was the sound of ringing and fire crackling, but after a while she was able to hear the sound of Lloyd’s voice. “Izzy! IZZY!” Lloyd shouted out, he came running towards her.

The master of animal spirituality looked up at the man dressed in green. “L-Lloyd-“ was all she could stutter out before she saw the look of utter fury on his face.

“Izzy! I trusted you with that remote! Why would you let the enemy get so close to it?!” Lloyd snapped angrily, he was heavily disappointed that Izzy was so foolish enough to venture that close to the criminals in such a state.

Poor Izzy whimpered, unable to say anything but a bunch of gibberish and stutters. When suddenly Kai, Nya, Jay and Zane appeared as well. “UGH! I just KNEW that something bad was gonna happen by leaving Izzy in charge of a death weapon!” Jay shouted out. “She can’t handle anything on a mission! She’s worse than me!”

Izzy sat there with tears running down her face. Kai glared hatefully at Izzy. “If you seriously want to be one of us you’re going to have to learn to just grow up already!” Kai shouted loudly, clearly fed up with Izzy’s childish behaviour.

“The whole factory cost millions to make, now it’s all completely ruined! Because of you, a massive part of our city has been destroyed!” Nya said with a huff. “This isn’t gonna do the city any good at all!”

As all the others angrily scolded Izzy, Zane just stood there looking back at the flames being put out behind them. “Yes, it is true the place has been destroyed, but at least we have recused everyone that was inside it so no lives were taken.”

Poor Izzy was a trembling mess, she tried to apologise but before she was able to form any words, a very very angry black ninja came storming towards her, angrily moving any fallen obstacles out of his way, using her super strength to move a fallen pillar rather than jump over it like the others did. “IZZY SPIRIT!!!!” He shouted angrily, his voice was loud enough to echo throughout the entire city. He angrily chucked the pillar out of the way, a loud and unsettling thud could be heard nearby as it landed. Poor Izzy looked horrified as she sat there trembling with fear, the black ninja marched over, shouting at her like he never has before. “YOU! YOU ARE THE STUPIDEST, WEAKEST, MOST WORTHLESS NINJA I EVER MET! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?! YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH THAT PLACE MEANT TO ME?!” Cole screamed.

Izzy flinched as she sat there shaking. Although the others were angry they actually stood up for her a little. “Ok, that might be a little too far, Cole.” Lloyd said as he tried to place a hand on his shoulder.

Cole only turned away from Lloyd’s touch and glared at him angrily. “Oh come on! You can’t seriously tell me you’re not thinking the same thing! How this, this complete dweeb ruined the most precious thing in all of Ninjago?!” Cole snapped, ignoring the fact Izzy was crying in the background. “Heck, we might be better off without her! All she ever does is drag us down and you know it Lloyd! In fact all of Ninjago would be better off if she just never came here at all!”

Lloyd started to get a little bit irritated with Cole’s attitude, he was still furious with Izzy for being so foolish but to say such things was way too far. “Cole, that’s not true! You know it isn’t!”

“Oh really? Go ahead then! Name one good strength of Izzy’s! Name one time she helped make everything easier for us during a mission! Name one time she actually helped instead of making things worse!” Cole snapped, his teeth were clenched with rage. The blond opened his mouth to say something, he wanted to say anything but nothing came to mind. “You see?!” Cole snapped, his body was tense with absolute anger. “All she does is ruin everything.”

All of the ninja were crowded around Cole, not paying attention to the fact that Izzy was gone by now, sobbing her eyes out as she summoned her elemental dragon to fly away. “Hey, that’s not true! She does help us out with any missions including animals!” Nya said, standing up for her. “She’s....not the best but...that’s one thing right?”

Jay gasped a little as he recalled some of their close encounters with savage beasts who quickly turned docile because of Izzy’s taming skills. “That’s right! We would’ve been all eaten by some giant monster a long long time ago if it wasn’t for her!” Jay said with a shudder, hating the thought of what could’ve happened if she wasn’t there to befriend the wild monsters they faced.

Cole only rolled his eyes, crossing his arms angrily. Lloyd began to think for a moment, he does recall some things she’s done that really did help but not a lot. Although most of the things she was able to do for them were not things just anyone could do. “Yeah she does mess up a lot and all but...” Lloyd just sighs a bit. “I don’t know...” as a leader he was at a loss, unsure what to do. It was his responsibility to keep everyone in check yet Izzy is just so unpredictable he could never figure out what she needs.

The earth ninja just angrily stomped his foot, causing a little bit of an earthquake due to his utter rage. “Well I say we kick her off the team for good!” He shouted angrily.

The water ninja just sighed a bit. “Ok, Cole. Calm down a bit would ya? Look...she...she isn’t that bad right?” Nya asked, she started to sound a little bit unsure.

The earth ninja just grumbled before storming off in another direction. “Well look around you. It looks pretty bad to me.”

The rest of the ninja fell silent, Lloyd started to think deeply about what to do. Should he just disband Izzy from being a ninja like the rest of them? She could still be around just...not a ninja. Or should he kick her out of the place entirely? Should he just try harder to help her? He didn’t know what would be best, but it all hurts to think about each and every possible action he could take. Suddenly, the green ninja was snapped out of a daze, feeling Zane poke him so slightly to give him some valid information he was yet to find out about. “Lloyd, Izzy appears to have vanished.” Zane said, a worried look was on his face.

Lloyd looked back to see that the titanium ninja was correct. Izzy was gone. But instead of going after her to comfort her, still feeling a tad bit disappointed with her for what she did, Lloyd decided to let it go. “That’s...that’s fine. Just forget about it for now. We should really...just help clean up this mess first.”

Zane wasn’t too sure if that was a good idea, but he didn’t make any arguments and simply did what Lloyd said. “I see...it does seem the people here do need our help to escort them to safer spots and to put out any of the flames.” Zane said sadly as he followed everyone else.

Back at the monastery, Izzy’s room was a horrific mess, everything was thrown across the room. Pictures of her and the ninja torn up entirely, shards of glass shattered everywhere. The poor girl was sobbing uncontrollably as the words that were said to her kept swimming around her head. She remembered how everyone told her she shouldn’t be a ninja, how her very own boyfriend even said she shouldn’t even be here after calling her the worst of names. Perhaps they were right. Maybe she should leave, clearly not only would they be safer without her, but happier as well. Cole has broken his promise, his promise of always loving her no matter what. It may as well have all been a lie from the start.

Izzy grabbed a large bag nearby and began to pack it, her tears still running down her face. She finally managed to silence herself, keeping her mouth shut as the tears streamed down. She packed all of her collectables, her electronic devices as well as her wallet. There was one last thing however, a large black bear plushie Cole had given Izzy during one of their dates. Her hand shook above it, hesitating to take it with her. Instead she just grabbed it and threw it across the room, not caring at all that some of its stitches came undone and cotton went flying out. This is just how it’s meant to be, how it was always meant to be. She can’t have friends. She can’t have a family. She’s a mistake to this world and she just needs to learn to accept that it’s the truth. When she finally thought she escaped this kind of pain...when she finally thought she had friends who truely did love her for what she was, they soon see her for the abomination she really is and grow to hate her. Although each story of Izzy’s may be a little different, they all have the same ending. With the people she trusted most hurting her, for not understanding her and wishing to see her leave forever. She was done with those heart shattering stories. Even if it meant she had to shut herself out from humanity forever, she made a promise to herself to never ever make friends with another person ever again. No matter what.

And with that, Izzy left Ninjago, catching a ferry that sailed back to her hometown. Unfortunately she couldn’t bring Fluffy with her, her griffin. Large animals were not allowed on the boat. As Izzy left the building, she quickly said goodbye to Fluffy. Crying as she gave her one last hug. “I’m sorry...” she whispered out as she left. The griffin was confused at first but then began to thrash and screech, tugging on the chain that held her to her little house. Izzy couldn’t bare to hear those noises of distress, but she had no choice. She kept on going, crying as she planned to leave Ninjago for good.


	8. Broken promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And thus concludes the prequel for my upcoming series Izzy Spirit!

After cleaning up some of the mess Izzy left behind, Cole starting to feel the pain of guilt bubbling up within him. He muttered to himself as he sat down on a rooftop, looking down at the wasteland below.

Soon Jay was at the rooftop too, hiding behind a wall out of fear. “D-Do I really have to talk to him? He’s so scary!” Jay said to Nya with a whimper. The water ninja just sighed as she casually walked out from their hiding spot, ignoring her partner crying for her to come back. “Nya! No Nya! Wait!”

Cole could hear everything behind him but just sat still, allowing his friend to sit next to him. He only grunted a bit in response. “Hey, you feeling any better?” Nya asked.

“No.” Cole said with a pout, keeping his arms crossed as he stared at the ruins that were once a heavenly world of magic to him.

Nya sighs a bit, but she didn’t quit just yet. “Yeah...we did mess up pretty badly on this one...but...Zane did say no one got hurt, so at least there’s that right?”

The earth ninja just looked down at the water one. “Well...yeah. But what about all the cake?! It’s...it’s all gone...” Cole said, clenching his fists.

Nya frowned a bit as she stared at the wastelands below them. “Well...not really. We still got our bakeries and that. Also Zane is an amazing cook! Even Izzy is right? She usually would bake a cake for you with all these little decorations and stuff on it.” The water ninja began to smile a little once again as her gaze focused on Cole again.

He flinched a bit after hearing Izzy’s name, the one who caused this to happen in the first place. “Well...y-Yeah that’s true.” Cole said softly.

Nya looked back down at the ruined factory once again. It was all nothing but scrapes and melted machinery now that is barely recognisable for what it once was. “You know...maybe it was all of our faults in a way...it was pretty obvious Izzy wasn’t feeling too great and instead of helping her out we just told her to suck it up.” Nya said, she started to sound a little bit sad.

Cole began to feel even more guilty. He thought back on the words he chose to say to her, even before that big fight he thought about how he hasn’t been too nice to her throughout the whole mission. Maybe his behaviour towards her could’ve played a part for this tragedy to happen. “O-Oh...”

Nya stood up and gave Cole a pat on the shoulder. “Come on, we should head home now. And maybe we should try and...help Izzy out a little bit right?” Cole nodded his head as he got up and followed her, Jay finally showing himself from behind the wall. “See, Jay? Cole might be scary when he’s mad but he is never going to hurt us!”

The ginger was fast to deny, having Cole be present in their conversation now. “W-who said I was scared?! Just because he’s really REALLY huge! And strong, and loud!” Jay began to laugh nervously as he said this, Nya only rolled her eyes playfully as she ruffled his hair, making him blush a bit.

The master of earth frowned a bit, glancing off to the side as he bit his lip. “Do you...think I was too harsh on her?” Cole asked.

Jay and Nya both spoke at the same time, saying the exact same words. “Yes. Yes you were.”

The earth ninja began to groan a little bit, feeling worse than ever before.

Soon all the ninja were back at the monastery, everyone was silent, even Jay during their trip home. The first thing Cole did was go into Izzy’s room, nervously opening the door after taking in a deep breath. “Hey...I-Izzy...I...”

But there was no Izzy to be seen. The whole place was a mess, many of her things missing along with her travel bag. There was glass shards, stuffing, torn up pieces of paper and books everywhere. Cole gasped as he saw the horrific scene in front of him. He then spotted a note and quickly grabbed onto it, his hands were shaking as he read it.

“I’m sorry for what I’ve done. I’m sorry you ever had to put up with me. I’m sorry you’ve ever had to even meet me. I get it now. I understand it all. I am not meant to be a ninja. I am not even meant to have any friends. No matter what it always ends up the same way, with everyone hating my guts. So, I will do what you not only need me to do, but what you want. I will leave Ninjago forever and do my best to shut myself out so I won’t bother anyone else again. Please take good care of Fluffy for me though, I couldn’t bring her with me which breaks my heart. But I also know I can’t stay any longer either. Don’t forget to feed her favourite treat in the morning, chicken. Goodbye forever - Izzy”

Cole began to sob as he held onto the note, clenching onto it as he held it close to him. “N-No...W-WHAT HAVE I D-DONE?!” Cole cried loudly, everyone wasn’t too far behind him as they all wanted to check on Izzy too. They all gasped as they saw her room, tearing up as they read the note.

Izzy made a new life back on her home island. It wasn’t the best but she got what she needed. A tent to live in, some food and drinks and little things for her entertainment. Things have been that way for months, staying away from humans and refusing to engage with them other than purchasing much needed sustenances from them. Though being so lonely meant no more drama, she still felt really sad most days. Empty inside even. She imagined this is just how it was meant to be, that her fate was craved in stone.

But maybe things may change for her again soon, it may change into something better or something worse, but any change to come her way is all certainly unexpected. 

As she kept hiding out, the ninja were quick to report her as a missing person, being sure to leave out plenty of filers of her around every corner. They even got into interviews about her disappearance, although because of the state Cole was in, he would never appear on tv. He misses her dearly and painfully regrets what he said to her. Now all he does is stay inside most days, doing nothing but binge eating, playing video games and taking lots and lots of naps.

It was only one week since Izzy went missing and the ninja are heartbroken. It was morning but it felt so lifeless and gloomy for them despite it being sunny and warm out. Lloyd sadly sat at the table, having some cereal for breakfast. He mostly just played with his food though rather than eat it. “Hey Zane...any updates about Izzy? Anything at all?” Lloyd asked weakly. The stress was really starting to get to him.

The nindroid had a grim look on his face. “I um...well I have discovered something that Izzy must’ve been keeping a secret from us.” Zane said, though he may be a droid, the emotion in his voice could be heard loud and clear.

Lloyd quickly perked up a bit, he was eager to hear anything. “What? What is it?” He asked.

Zane just sighed as he sat at the table. “As I was doing some research about her online, it would appear Izzy has a...hate club rather than a fan club.” Sorrow could be seen in his bright glowing blue eyes.

Lloyd almost choked on his milk as he heard this major news. “W-What?! She...she has haters?!” Lloyd cried out of utter shock before sinking back into his chair. “I mean...I guess everyone has haters but...h-how bad is it?” Lloyd asked.

The rest of the ninja appeared in the room, Cole making his now rare appearance since he tends to stay in his room all day. But once he heard it would about Izzy, he came running out with no hesitation. His hair was a wild mess, like he hasn’t taken care of it in a while, his clothes were covered in stains and crumbs and it seemed like he was even putting on some weight. Kai and Jay couldn’t help but stare at him, between seeing him this way and Izzy missing it was all a lot to take in. Poor Jay hardly gets any time to play video games with Cole now. Even if that is exactly what the earth master is doing, he always insists of playing them alone.

Zane sadly explained everything he found out about Izzy’s secret. “Well it seems these haters tend to mock her for how she is...with her...mental problems. They would often say to her that she’s just a disgusting attention hog who lies to manipulate all of us to do most of the missions for her.” Zane said.

Cole suddenly angrily slammed his fist on the table, causing it to break. “THAT ISN’T TRUE!!!” He shouted angrily, snarling violently as all of Lloyd’s milk and cereal splattered onto the floor.

“Gah! C-Cole! I couldn’t agree more but did you have to break the table?!” Lloyd cried out dramatically, he was covered in milk and sticky wet bits of cereal.

The earth ninja was quick to back off, he awkwardly stood there as he apologised, all while Kai helped Lloyd up. “S-Sorry.” 

Zane continued to share his research about what’s happened. “They would often call her disgusting too. It seems all this has been happening around the time she took her sudden change in behaviour.”

“So that’s why she wasn’t training or eating much...” Nya said to herself in shock, tears were welling up. 

Zane nodded his head. “That is correct. It seems they also often say to her that she shouldn’t be a ninja and that a person such as herself doesn’t deserve to be with us. From what I’ve seen, most times Izzy would try to reason with her haters and explain things from her side of the story but it appears to have just made things far worse.”

Cole flinched a bit, remembering that he had actually said those words to Izzy before. He felt a sudden pain in his chest, a pain he hasn’t felt since the passing of his mother.

“Some posts from Izzy seem to be cases of her mental breakdowns, they say things about how she just wants to be loved and accepted for who she is. That all she wants is for people to give her a chance. She also has said some terrible things about herself in which lead to more mockery from these cyberbullies.”

Lloyd looked at Zane with heartbroken eyes. How could he have been so blind to not see how much she was suffering? Worst of all when she would try to reach out she only got made fun for it. “I don’t understand...w-why wouldn’t she tell us?” He asked, his voice starting to break.

The droid looked at the green ninja, a frown on his face as he answered. “By my calculations of Izzy’s nature and her type of logic, she kept it a secret in fear that you may agree with what her haters have to say. She feared that you would get angry and disown her if she were to try and vent.” Zane said sadly. “I know none of us never would but...after all Izzy has been through, all these toxic relationships she was in. It is understandable she would fear that.”

Lloyd looked down. He really did understand, especially after his experience with Harumi. Your mind becomes twisted, all your thoughts anxious. You fear of it happening again, you always fear of it happening again with the people you really do love dearly. So you do everything you can to avoid that awful fate. “Yeah...I get it...” Lloyd said sadly.

The blue ninja suddenly snapped out a response, he was all worked up after finding out the truth. “But- I don’t get it! WHY would people just brutally harass those who are hurting instead of helping them out a little?! Why would people go and make fun of her for having panic attacks in public! I get them sometimes! It’s a normal thing isn’t it?! To totally freak out after seeing lots of hate posts, threats, having a near death experience and more!”

Kai grumbled a bit, appearing furious. His anger directed towards those who had hurt her. “Tch, I actually agree with you for once, Jay. Those jerks...I swear if I ever meet them...”

Cole just stood there in absolute shock, he had made a promise to keep Izzy safe from those kinds of people. He swore to be her bodyguard so she wouldn’t have to put up with being a victim anymore. It was all a promise not only for Izzy, but his mother too. Yet in the end, he ended up becoming the big bully.  
Cole was unable to take anymore, he ran back into his room and slammed the door, crying and calling himself an idiot nonstop.

He feared that may have been the last thing he said to Izzy, that he may never find her.   
But the future is still very very uncertain. Sometimes the future can hold so many unusual surprises. Sometimes there can be multiple paths to tread, yet many of them are also connected in a way. Just maybe, something unthinkable will happen, something that will change Cole and Izzy forever, something that will bring them closer together. Something that will make Izzy learn to love herself again. Something that will make Cole learn to understand Izzy better. Something better may be yet to come. It may take a while but the possibility of things getting better is always there.


End file.
